Click to play videoNew Delhi: Rattled by repeated incidents of fragging, soldiers killing fellow soldiers and a spate of suicides, the Indian Army has decided to get psychologists to help de-stress troops. The Army also seeks medical advice for anger management.
"A proposal has been made that there be a cadre of combat psychologists who will combat such situations within their army,” says director, Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR).
Over the last few years, the Army has been losing twice as many men to stress than in combat.
And in what can be called a troubling thought for the Army, which has announced two death sentences in the last three months to deter fragging.
But even the option of engaging a shrink per battalion has its limitations. Military psychology is in its infant stage in India.
There are only 35 military psychologists for an army of 1.2 million.
Says Dr Mandal, “The desired ratio is one per 1,000 troops.”
The role of the psychologist will extend to military recruitment too. Psychological profiling of those who have committed fragging and suicide have helped identify attributes.
Recruiters will now weed out volunteers with similar attributes. The challenge here too is huge. Sixty thousand enlist into the Indian armed forces every year.
So as it digs in for the long haul in a war without end, the Army is taking the demons within by the horns.
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